Personality traits susceptible to deterioration under the impact of cultural change (paradigms from the Dogon (Mali) and the Agni (Ivory Coast)

I wish to show, by means of two examples, that it is sometimes possible for the psychoanalyst to formulate, and even to forecast, the circumstances and modalities in which important personality traits deteriorate under the impact of cultural change. The first example is taken from the Dogon people of the Mali Republic, known to us through the works of Griaule, Dieterlen and others. They are heathen planters with a patrilinear family organization. Dr. Morgenthaler, my wife and I went there in 1960 and paid them a second short visit in 1966.